Famous first line!  A Christmas line, spoken by a great character of literature, Jo March.

In honor of that first line and the ambitious and opinionated Jo March, I present the Little Women collection of my friend Nancy Espersen.  Nancy’s lovely home was recently featured on the Hillsborough Candlelight Home Tour in North Carolina.

The guest room, decorated as the Little Women Room for the tour

Jo

Meg

Amy

Beth

A Little Women bank and mementos from the movie starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford

A scarf from the June Allyson movie

A cross stitch of the Alcott home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts

Paper dolls!

A paper dollhouse of the March home

First day issue of the Little Women postage stamp

Christmas stories

The cover of Nancy’s childhood copy of the book, Whitman Publishing, 1955.

The endpages with a Little Women sticker in the corner

I asked Nancy to tell us about her lifelong appreciation for Little Women:

My love of everything “Little Women” began as a child.  Perhaps it was the version of the book that began this journey. Whatever it was, the story of the March family captured my heart, especially the way they dealt with their trials and tribulations as well as their triumphs and joys. It is still a tradition to watch the movie at Christmas.  And even to this day, my husband is ready to hand me a tissue when Beth dies. 

Nancy!

Barbara Younger

Barbara Younger blogs from her home in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Along with Friend for the Ride: Encouraging Words for the Menopause Roller Coaster (http://friendfortheride.com), she writes books for children and adults. She lives in an old house with her husband Cliff. and collections of everything from dolls to buttons to bookmarks. She's the mother of two grown daughters and the grandmother to one adorable baby boy!